MLB Rule Changes and What You Need to Know
Going into the 2023 Major League Baseball season, there have been some significant rule changes throughout the league. Recently, this past year the MLB has been testing new rules in the minor league system, which they want to implement into the season at the Major league level. A lot of them worked in the minor league system, and not the MLB wants to implement them at a pro level.
One of the first rules was about position players and when they are able to pitch. MLB wanted to cut down the number of position players pitching. If you were to have a position player to pitch, the game would have to be in extra innings, in the ninth inning trailing by eight or more or in the ninth inning winning by ten or more. The one exception to this rule has been Shohei Ohtani being a two-way player in the league; this rule doesn't apply to him.
An additional rule that has impacted extra-inning games is if a game were to go into extra innings, there would be a runner placed at second base to help the game not be as long and to help save some of the team's bullpens. Another rule that teams and pitchers will have to get used to is the pitch clock, catchers have about 20 seconds to get the ball back, and pitchers will have about 15 seconds to release the ball once set. If the ball isn't released during this time frame, a batter will be given a ball in the count.
Another rule affecting the pitchers will be limited pick-off attempts. Pitchers will be limited to about two attempts; if the pitcher is unable to pick the batter off, he will be able to advance a base. A rule that batters will enjoy, especially Cody Bellinger, is banning the shift. When a pitch is released starting in 2023, two infielders must be placed on either side of the second base. Additionally, the feet of all four infielders must be placed in the infield cutout in front of the outfield turf.
Pitchers have been targeted throughout these rule changes. MLB wants to be more strict on what specifics as a balk and what doesn't. The balk rule has been around since the late 1800s, yet it is still one of the most challenging to explain to a new or casual observer. The main idea is that pitchers shouldn't be able to purposefully fool baserunners with twitches or arbitrary motions prior to delivery. For example, if you have seen Houston's Luis Garcia, Toronto's Kevin Gausman, Boston's Kenley Jansen, and the Chicago White Sox's Mike Clevinger, these types of pitchers are being targeted to be able to stay on the rubber during their wind-up. With this rule, pitchers will either have to make the adjustment during their windups if they would have to; ERAs might increase because they are focused on not having a balk called on them.
The last rule MLB has recently approved with the other long list was having large bases on the base path. This past year fans wanted to see more base stealing to be able to help keep the fans interested by limiting pick-off attempts and having larger bases; there should hopefully be an increase in stealing on the base path.